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(m Mudel) R. SBNPTNER.

STATION INDICATOR.

No. 392,693. Patented Nov. 13, 188B.

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ROBERT SENFTNER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

STATIONmlNDlCTOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 392,693, dated November13, 188e Application filed June 1l), 188B. Serial No. 277,566. (Nomodel.)

.To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ROBERT SENFTNER, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inStation-lndicators, of which the following is a specification.

Letters Patent No. 352,576, of November 16, 1886, were granted to me fora station-indi cator, which consists, essentially, of an indicatorplaced inside the car and the striking and indicator operating mechanismfixed to the body of the car, and also Letters Patent No. 879,292, ofMarch 13,1888, for improvements in the striking` and indicator-operatingmechanism.

My present invention relates to improvements in both the indicator andthe striking and .indicator operating mechanisms; and it consists,essentially, of the elements and combinations hereinafter set` forth.

In the drawings, Figure l is a front elevation, partly in section, of myimproved indicator. Fig. 2 is a top view of the same with thesupporting-bar partly broken away. Fig. 3 is a perspective View of thestriking` and indicator-operating mechanism.

As will be seen by reference to my Patent No. 352,576, of November 16,1886, the indicator-case A is suspended at or near the center of the caror in any other desirable place by means of the bar B. This caseconsists of a metal box through which a shaft, C, passes, having itsbearings in the sides of the said case. A dial is placed on both sidesof the box, and on the ends of the shaft C are rigidly affixed pointersC', which point'to the various stations on the dial as thc indicator isoperated.

Rigidly attached to the shaft C are two ratchet-wheels, D D', havingtheir respective teeth set in a direction exactly opposite to eachother.

E E are two levers, the enlarged or circular ends of which looselysurround the shaft C and are free to vibrate upon the same. Near theupper ends of these levers E E are pivotally connected the pawls F F',having upwardly-extending arms a a', to which are connected the wires orcords b b',which are led oversuitable pulleys and guides down to each ofthe indicator-operating mechanisms placed on each side of the car. Thepawls F F are located directly over the ratchet-wheels D D' and areprovided at their forward ends with curved and downwardly-projectingcontactpoints c c', the rearward ends, d d', being extended so as tomake those ends heavy enough to disengage the contact-points o c' fromthe teeth of the respective ratchctewheels, if these extended ends arefound to be insufficient to return the pawls F F to their position ofrest, a weight may be placed upon them.

On the upper ange of the caseAare affixed two stops, G G', which extenddown near to or in contact with the contact-points c o' of the pawlswhen the said pawls are in their normal position, and are so placed thatthey will defleet the points c c of the pawls when they are operatedinto the teeth of their respective ratchet-Wheels.

Fastened within the indicator-case A extending vertically across thesame bridge, H, through which the shaft C lo passes. Attached to thisbridge are two springs, I, only one of which is shown, located at ornear the top and bottom of the ratchet-wheels D, and which acts as adetainer or detent to the revolution of either of the ratchetwheels,(both being fastened to the same shaft or spindle) and which preventsthe further revolution or movement of the same 'after they have beenoperated by the pawls.

The levers E E' are respectively provided with springs e e', one end ofeach being fastened to pins or projections j f' on the supporting-plateB, the said springs returning the levers E E' to their normal position,as shown in the drawings, and at the same time withdrawing the pawls F Ffrom the radius of their.n respective ratchet-wheels.

As shown in the drawings, the indicatorsystem,comprisng theratchet-wheel D', lever E', pawl F', cord b', and spring e', composes,when put in operative combination with its striking andindicator-operating mechanism, an individual system, which may workirrespective of the other parts of the indicator mechanism, and is sodesigned that the automatic indication of every station will be insured.In this View the pawl F' is supposed ICO to be just about to enter intoa tooth of the ratchet-wheel D', partly illustrating its operation.

Reference will now be had to Fig. 3, which illustrates the striking andindicator-operating mechanism.

In actual use I place a striking and indicator-operating mechanism onboth sides of the car at or near its center and connect them with theindicator by means of cords or wires.

J is a supporting-plate, preferably attached to the floor ofthe car bymeans ol' the bolts or screws g g.

K is a cam pivotally attached by means of the bolt h to thesupportingplate J. The cam K has a downwardly-extending arm, L,articulated at i, the lower portion, L', of said arm being extendeddownward a suitable distance to enable it to come in contact with andride over the stationary striking-blocks'y', arranged at suitable placesalong the line of track. The arm L'has a slot cut in its lowermostportion, which ends in the angular face 7c, against which the angularshoulder Z of the striking-lever L' bears. The lever L' is provided onits end with a sheet of rubber, M, or other iiexible material, whichacts as a resistance-piece to the stroke of the striking-lever,lessening the force ofthe stroke, thereby avoiding any chance of arebound and consequent double indication. A slot, m, is cut in therubber M, through which passes a set-screw, a, by means of which theshortening of the rubber, caused by its wearing away by riding over thestriking-block, is compensated for. Instead of using the rubber M, I canform the whole lower portion of the striking-lever L' of iron or othersuitable material, and do not, therefore, limit myself to theuse oftherubber sheet M alone.

The supporting-plate J is provided with a circular slot, o, in which isadj ustably pivoted a bell-crank lever, N, carrying` a roller, O,saidlever N being so pivoted in the slot o as to bring the roller O withinthe periphery of the cam K. The lfree end of the roller N is connecteddirectly to the indicator by means ofthe :flexible cord I), thc samebeing carried up into the car over suitable pulleys to the indicator,thus putting the striking and indicator-operating mechanism intooperative connection.

The cam K and lever N are provided with springs 1) p', suitably screwed,which return them to their position of rest after being operated.,

Fastened to thesupporting-plate J is a cushion or pad, P, which receivesthe return blow of cam K.

l Having thus described 'the nature of my invention, I will now proceed.to describe its operation.

As before stated, the striking-blocks y' are placed at suitable placesalong the line of track,and the striking-lever L', being properlyadjusted in relation to said block, will, when it encounters the same,ride over it, at thev same time, by means of the shoulder Z of the leverL' bearing' against the inclined face 7i', vibrating the cam K, which inits turn bears against the roller O on the lever N, vibrating the same,setting in motion the cord b,leading up to the indicator. llhecordb,beingconnected with the pawl F, draws it and lever E forward, thefront end of the pawl striking the stop G, by which it is deflected downinto a tooth of the ratchet-wheel, thereby rotating the same. rlheratchet-wheels being fast upon the spindle C, and upon which thepointers C' C' are also affixed, rotates them with it, undue rotationbeingprevented by the action ofthe spring I upon the ratchet-wheel.After the lever L' has passed entirely over the striking-block j it willbe returned to its position of rest by the spring p', the return blowbeing received by the cushion l?. Vhen the lever L' assumes the positionshown in the drawings, the pressure-being thus relieved 'from the leverN, the spring p will then. return it to its posti'on of rest, slackeningthe cord b and permitting the spring e on the indicator and the weightedarm dief thc pawl F to co-operate in withdrawing the contact-point ofsaid pawl from within the radius of the ratchet-wheel.

lIt will be obvious that if another and similar striking and indicatoroperating mechanism were placed on the body of the car, opposite to theone shown and described, and if a striking-block was properly arrangedto vibrate the striking-lever, the other set of indicator parts wouldthereby be operated, and when a car is so provided with duplicatestriking and indicator-operating mechanisms, and they are properlyconnected with the indicator, the automatic indication of the stationsmnst necessarily take place even though the car run back and forth overthe same striking-blocks any number of times, and in the event ofthecarbcing completelyturned around the automatic indication of thestations will still take place.

As it is intended that but one set of mechn anism shall be operated atone time, the striking-blocks are fixed in a reversed direction oneither side ol" the track, so that when the striking-lever that is notto set its own system in motion, or, in other words, that is not tooperate, strikes the abrupt portion j"of the strik-l ing-block it willcause the lower portion, L', to vibrate at its point of articulationwith the arm L, thus permitting that indicator system to pass over thestriking-block unoperated.

The lateral or vertical motion of the car will not in the least affectthe operation of my indicator, the articulated arm L L' and the rubbersweeper M compensating for any of these motions4 I do not conne myselfto the particular form and arrangement of details shown, but may changeor alter them to suit particular circumstances and conditions.

Having thus described the nature and operation of my invention, whatIclaim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. In a station-indicator, a ratchet-wheel.

IOO

IIO

mounted upon a rotating shaft, a lever pivotally secured to said shaftand provided with a springto return it to its normal position, a pawlsecured to and vibratin g independently of said lever, and a stop fordeflecting the said pawl into the teeth of the ratchetwheel, incombination with means for operating the same, the operating means beingconnected directly with the said pawl, substantially as described.

2. In a station-indicator, a ratchet-wheel mounted upon a rotatingshaft, a vibrating lever pivotally secured to said shaft and providedWith a spring to return it to its normal position, a pawl secured to andvibrating independently of said lever, and a stop for deileeting thesaid paWl into the teeth of the ratchetwheel, in combination with astriking mechanism comprising a cam and lever pivotally secured to thebody of the car, and a vibrating arm in operative connection With thesaid cam, the said arm being operatively connected With the paWl of theindicating mechanism, substantially as described.

3. In a stationlindicator, a ratchetwheel mounted upon a rotating shaft,a vibrating lever pivot-ally secured to said shaft and provided with aspring to return it to its normal position, a paivl secured to andvibrating independently of said lever, and astop for delecting the saidpawl into the teeth of the ratchet- Wheel, in operative combination withan adjustably-pivoted lever operated by a cam pivotally secured to thebody of the ear, and an articulated striking-lever secured to said cam,substantially as described.

4. In a station-indicator, a ratchet-wheel mounted upon a rotatingshaft, a vibrating lever pivotally secured to said shaft, a pawl securedto and vibrating independently of said lever, and a stop for deiiectingthe said pawl into the teeth of the ratchet-Wheel, in combination Withthe weighted arms of the pawls, springs connected With the vibratinglever to return it to its normal position, and means for operating thesame, substantially as described.

5. In a station indicator, the indicating mechanism comprisingratchet-Wheels D and D', mounted upon a rotating shaft, C, levers E andE', mounted to vibrate upon the shaft C, and pawls F and F', mounted tovibrate upon the levers E E', operatively combined With a strikingmechanism comprising a lever, N, cam K, and articulated striking-lever Land L', substantially as described.

6. In a station-indicator, the combination, with the ratchet-wheels Dand D', mounted upon the rotating shaft C, levers E and E', mounted tovibrate upon the shaft C, and pawls F and F, mounted to vibrate upon thelevers E and E', of the Weighted arms d and d of the pawls, and springse and e', attached to the levers E and E, substantially as described.

ROBERT SENFTNER.

Vitnesses:

.IosnrH L. LEVY, M. E. STODDARD.

